March 13, 2012

Titans Done In By 23rd-Ranked Tommies’ Pitching

More news about: UW-Oshkosh

The University of St. Thomas (Minn.) struck out 20 batters to earn a doubleheader sweep over UW-Oshkosh on Tuesday (March 13) at the Minneapolis Metrodome. The Tommies (6-2) began the day ranked 23rd by D3baseball.com.

During the opener, Dylan Thomas fanned five straight Titans to preserve a 3-1 victory. Bryce Gapinski then tossed a complete game with 10 strikeouts and no walks during a 7-1 St. Thomas triumph.

UW-Oshkosh (1-3) got on the board first in game one. Following a Tyler Kamps (Jr. • Appleton) double, Alex Mullendore (Sr. • Glendale Heights, Ill.) executed a sacrifice bunt. Kamps came around to touch home on a throwing error for the 1-0 lead.

Single runs in the third, fourth and fifth frames were all that St. Thomas needed. The Tommies' first score came on a defensive miscue, while Nick Reichert posted a run-scoring single to go ahead. A single by Ben Podobinski in the fifth inning plated the game's final run.

Steve Maher got the win for St. Thomas after surrendering one unearned run over five innings. Thomas then recorded two scoreless innings for the save. The pitching loss went to Brock Guetzke (Jr. • Hartford), who booked six innings and yielded two earned runs.

Game two began with first-inning singles by Podobinski and Charles Bruchu. J.D. Dorgan then grounded out to put his team on top, 1-0. Dorgan added a run-scoring double in the third frame and came home on an error to make it a 3-0 margin.

Skyler Bohn (Fr. • Grafton) posted a single during the bottom of the third to start UW-Oshkosh's comeback attempt. Another sacrifice set up Kyle Van Abel (Sr. • Kaukauna), who knocked a run-scoring single up the middle.

Bruchu added a two-run double in the sixth to complete the Tommies' scoring-scoring hits. For the day, Podobinski led all players with five hits and four runs scored.

Gapinski got stronger as the game went on, marking nine strikeouts over the last four innings. The loss fell on Luke Westphal (Sr. • Clintonville) after he gave up four earned runs on 11 hits over six frames.

St. Thomas held a 6-3 advantage in hits during the opener and a 12-4 difference in the nightcap. The Titans received two total hits from both Kamps and Michael Polcyn (Fr. • Ripon).

UW-Oshkosh returns to the Metrodome for a meeting with St. John's University (Minn.) on Sunday (March 18).